


Happy Birthday, Brat.

by m0rkl



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: DGM Secret Santa, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 02:37:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9051895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m0rkl/pseuds/m0rkl
Summary: In which Cross attempts to give Allen a birthday/christmas present, but he doesn't really know what the hell he's doing.Still, he tries. Sort of._____________ my gift to genericchristmascandy for the dgm secret santa <3





	

            Cross woke up face down, head pounding and sweating. His mouth tasted like shit and he didn’t actually know whose bed he was in currently. Whatever had happened last night had been good. Probably.

            Wiping a hand over his face, Cross flipped onto his back. His hands felt a little grimy with god-knows-what dried on them. With a groan, he sat up. Every heartbeat sent a wave of pain through his head but he adjusted his mask and got up anyways. The sound of running water alerted him to the fact that who’s ever room this was, they were currently in the shower. Cross grabbed his pants on the floor and searched around for his underwear, but couldn’t find it. Settling on his pants, boots, a shirt that was probably his and his jacket, the general dressed and make his escape.

            “You smell like shit.” Was the first thing his apprentice said when Cross arrived back at their rented room. The boy was practicing with a tattered deck of cards, showing them to Timcanpy like it was a magic trick.

            “Fuck off, brat.” He growled and began to strip off the dirty clothes. His head was still pounding and all he wanted was to be clean then get some sleep. “Wash those.” Without waiting for a response Cross went to sit on the edge of the shower tub and turned the water to its hottest setting. Moments later, Allen came into the bathroom bearing a glass of water and some aspirin.

            “It was a decent party, then?” He asked casually as Cross waited for the water to heat up. Times like these when the boy was so damn calm, that Cross missed Allen squeaking in embarrassment and running away at the sight of his Master’s naked form. Nowadays, it took a lot more than seeing the man’s limp dick to make him blush. For a moment, Cross just glared at Allen, trying to remember what in the hell he was going on about. Then he remembered.

            The night before, he had attended a ball. There had been lots of nobles and diplomats in attendance, the perfect place to find some rich older folk who liked spending money on very attractive, very charming men. It had been an extravagant, thing, a special event. Allen had begged to come along, but of course Cross denied him. How was he supposed to charm his way into the bedroom of a wealthy noble with a kid attached to his hip? The boy probably only wanted to go for the food anyways and he couldn’t have his glutton of an apprentice making a fool of himself in front of high society.

            “Hn.” Cross couldn’t bring himself to say more than that. He was tired and wanted the boy to leave him alone already. Reaching out to test the water, Cross set down the glass and shooed Allen away.

            “Don’t slip and die.” Allen grumbled as he left the bathroom. “I’m not paying for your funeral.” The door slammed shut and Cross rolled his eyes. With one hand he removed his mask and the other ran through his long red hair. His fingers snagged on a tangle. Something had dried there, but he honestly did not want to know what it was.

            With a long sigh, Cross ducked his head under the hot stream and began combing through the tangled bits with his fingers. He wasn’t sure what sort of events he got into for his hair to be in such a state. Pulling his fingers towards his face, he inspected the hardened, colorful substance that had been in his hair. He sniffed it, finding it to be surprisingly sweet. Candied fruit, perhaps? Yes, that’s right. They had been eating cake with their hands. Cross grinned at the hazy memory. What kind of cake had it even been? Some sort of spiced cake. Fruitcake, right.

            “Shit.” He hissed suddenly. They had been eating fruitcake because it was a Christmas Eve ball. It was now Christmas day.

            No wonder his apprentice had been slightly less pleasant than usual. Cross had abandoned him Christmas Eve, despite knowing the boy had some difficult feelings about the day. Then he stumbled in this morning without a mention of it. He had entirely forgotten about Allen’s birthday as well.

            But it didn’t really matter, did it? Soon enough, Neah would wake up and it would be like Allen never existed. That was the plan anyways. Cross began washing his body, trying to convince himself that there was absolutely no reason for him to be kind to Allen at all. The boy didn’t need any sort of emotional support or parenting because he wouldn’t be around very much longer anyways… But that’s what he said last year, right before cradling the sobbing child to his chest.

Cross cursed to himself and wondered how the hell this got so messy in the first place. He wondered that last year as well. Under the shower’s hot spray, Cross let his mind blank. He really didn’t want to think about this right now. Despite his still present hangover, he felt like he needed a drink. Allen tended to do that to him.

            “Shit.” He cursed again. Guilt crawled up his stomach, well that or last nights alcohol. Either way, he needed to do something about this. Eventually, he got out of the shower and dried off. Water flecked the walls as he tossed his hair over his shoulder.

            How old was Allen turning again? Thirteen? What had Cross wanted at that age? Sex. Mostly sex. That’s what most teenage boys wanted, wasn’t? Cross hadn’t had a whole lot of experience with teenagers except for when he was one. From what he remembered, his life as a teenager was a fucking mess, but if there was one gift he could have asked for, it was definitely sex. He and Allen were very different people, but there were a lot of similarities at their core. They were both very fucked up men. So he’d take Allen to a brothel. Not that the boy hadn’t been in plenty before, but this time, he’d pay for Allen to have a good hour or so…. Then he could have some time to himself as well.

            Cross wrapped a towel around his waist and exited. He crossed the room and dropped unceremoniously on the bed, face down. Timcanpy flutter over, landing on the pillow beside him with a little growl. Cross flipped his head to the side to glare at the golem.

            “Wake me up in four hours. No more, no less.” And with that, he promptly passed out.

____________________

 

            Four hours later, like the little golem had been told, Timcanpy wiggled up close to his master’s head and bit down on his ear. The redheaded man let out a rather undignified shriek and swatted the golem off blindly.

            “Fucking hell Tim!” Cross growled, his voice still gravelly with sleep. “I’ve told you not to do that!.... And wipe the smile of your face, brat.”

            “Well, I didn’t tell him to do it.” Allen shrugged, not hiding his grin at all.

            "Yeah, yeah well get dressed. We’re going out.” Rolling to the side of the bed, Cross sa up and adjusted his mask. Outside, it was just beginning to get dark. Days were short this time of year, but despite the setting sun there were plenty of businesses still open.

            “Where are we going?” Allen asked as he pulled on his threadbare coat and worn black boots.

            “You’ll find out when we get there.” Surprises were generally fun, right? Kids liked surprises.

            The street lights began to flicker on as they traversed the city streets. They walked in their usual silence with Allen bounding after Tim as the golem hovered just out of his reach. They had been down this way plenty of times before during their short stay in the city, but it would take the boy a bit to know exactly where they were. He always got terribly lost when left on his own. Cross noticed that as soon as Allen did realize where they were going, he deflated a little. It was hard to tell, since Allen was usually good at hiding his emotions, but the way his shoulders drooped slightly alerted Cross to the change in mood. Hopefully, his birthday present would lift his spirits.

            “Cross!” A middle aged woman greeted them as they entered the brothel. She tucked a lock of her greying amber hair behind her ear as she came forward. “You’re here awful early this evening. Shall I call on Kelley for you?”

            “That would be lovely, Annette.” He smiled charmingly, then leaned in to whisper something to her. “And could you have one of your girls tend to my apprentice? It’s a gift of sorts for him.”

            “Hm?” The woman raised an eyebrow and looked from Cross to the boy, who was standing there sort of stiffly with his hands behind his back. “Really? He’s a bit… young isn’t he?” Allen’s head shot up as he realized she was referring to him. Concern and confusion came over his face.

            “It’s fine!” Cross snorted, handing her the money before heading to the stairs. “I was about his age when I had my first time. Merry Christmas, brat!” He took one last glance to see the look of absolute horror on his apprentice, then he went up to his usual room.

____________________

 

            When Cross and Kelley finished their session, he lit a cigarette and sat at the edge of the bed.

            “You really brought that kid here?” Kelley asked, picking her robe up off the chair and draping it over she shoulders.

            “I always do, better than leaving him to get lost in the city on his own.” He let out a puff of smoke into the air and smiled at the woman. “Besides, I told Annette to find a girl for him. That should keep him busy for at least a little while.”

            Kelley gave him an uncertain look then sighed. She almost wanted to give him some advice about handling kids, but she wasn’t getting paid enough for that. Instead, she watched Cross get dressed and leave her a generous tip.

            As Cross went down the stairs, he could hear a few of the girls chattering and giggling.

            “Oh, come on he can’t be that terrible!” One of them said, her voice light and teasing. “He’s always a gentleman when he comes in.”

            “Sure, to you!” The next voice he recognized as his apprentice. Cross spotted him sitting between two girls, one of which was braiding back the side of his hair. Two other girls sat in front of him laughing at something someone had previously said. Timcanpy was settled comfortably in his lap in a way that made Cross wonder who golem was actually more loyal to. “You would not believe the things he makes me do! When we were in Spain he--” Allen stopped mid-sentence as he noticed his master coming down the stairs. “Master!” He stood up, going completely red in the face.

            “Have you just been sitting there chatting this entire time?” Cross growled, a vein in his forehead pulsing with irritation. His heavy boots pounded the floor as he stormed up to his apprentice.

            “Well... I didn’t really…” Sensing the conversation was getting tense, the girls scattered off to do their own jobs. “Master, I just--”

            “I didn’t pay for you to sit on your ass and complain about me.” He grabbed Allen by the wrist and dragged him outside so they wouldn’t cause a scene in front of anyone.

            “Let me go!” Allen tore his arm away as soon as they were outside. He stumbled back a little, moving into the alleyway next to the building. “Sorry, I’m not the type of person who fucks like a rabbit whenever I’m given the chance!”

            “I took you there and paid for you to get laid! It was supposed to be a present, you ungrateful idiot!” He crushed his cigarette against the brick wall and dropped it to let Tim chomp it up.

            “Master, why?!” Allen a gritted his teeth and pressed palm to his forehead. “I’ve expressed absolutely no interest in any of the hundreds of brothel’s we’ve entered before. I’m not you! What in the world lead you to believe that this is what I wanted for my birthday?!”  
            “Well, how the hell am I supposed to know what you want? It’s not like you’re very up front about it.” Cross scoffed, glaring at the wall rather than his apprentice.

            “I like food! You could have just paid for my dinner for once!” The boy groaned in frustration. He tugged a hand through his hair to undo the messy braid. “Or your know, given me money to replace this coat that has holes in the pockets! Maybe if you just actually paid attention to me for once instead of acting like… like I’m this terrible nuisance! Like you don’t want me around! Just like everybody else in my goddamn life!” As he continued to shout, tears welled up in the boy’s silver eyes and Cross prayed to god he wouldn’t start crying.

            “You done?” The general sighed, his voice softer than usual. He stepped forward, making his apprentice flinch slightly. Hesitation passed over his face, but he exhaled through his nose and kneeled to be eye level with Allen. “If I didn’t have some kind of reason for keeping you around, I would have dropped your ass a long time ago, alright?” The boy dropped his head, letting his silver hair fall in front of his face. He was shaking, his small fist clenched tightly as he tried not to cry. As much as Cross hated having to deal with a crying kid, it was good for Allen to have these outbursts on occasion. Otherwise he would just let him emotions pile up inside and it would slowly destroy him. “Now I might be a grade A asshole, but I haven’t ditched you yet. You might have noticed, but I’m not very good at this whole teacher-student thing. But I’m trying, alright?”

            “Alright…” The boy didn’t sound very convinced, but it was good enough for Cross. He wasn’t supposed to get attached to the kid anyways. Sooner or later, Neah would take over at this ‘Allen’ would disappear. He shouldn’t care about this kid at all. Yet…

            “Oh, and Allen?” Silver eyes flicked upwards to meet his. “Happy Birthday.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I tried to make it funny but it got a little sad at the end.... anyways merry christmas genericchristmascandy <3
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


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